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'Key & Peele' to End After Current Season

Two weeks from now, Jon Stewart will conclude his run as host of The Daily Show in order to vacate the chair to newcomer Trevor Noah in September. However, as we’ve now learned, Stewart won’t be the only major shakeup occurring on the Comedy Central schedule come the fall.

As per a new report from The Wrap, it has been confirmed that the current season of Key & Peele, which is in the middle of airing new episodes that are set to conclude in September, will be the show’s last.

Said co-creator Keegan-Michael Key to the outlet:

This is our final season – and it’s not because of Comedy Central, it’s us. It was just time for us to explore other things, together and apart. I compare it to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. We might make a movie and then do our own thing for three years and then come back and do another movie.

I’m thinking we could do that every three years – take a year, go bang out a movie. That’s the plan right now.

While five seasons may seem like standard fair for a basic cable variety series (The State, Mr. Show and Chappelle's Show all ran for four seasons or less), the ending is typically accompanied by a decline in popularity. This, however, has not been the case for Key & Peele as the series, just last week, landed an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety Series - Sketch, and has been a consistent performer for Comedy Central in the ratings.

The evidence at hand most certainly points to the statement by Keegan being the truth. The boys are simply exhausted and want the opportunity to explore other ventures before rejoining again – which it doesn’t seem like they have any intention of stopping completely.

It also now makes sense that Comedy Central produced the most recent two seasons of the show in a single production block that was originally classified as Season 4A and Season 4B. Ever since Breaking Bad, this has become the norm for most of television as two final seasons can be produced for a cheaper rate overall as, with every new set of ordered episodes, everyone gets a raise. So producing 22 episodes at $1 million an episode becomes cheaper than producing 11 at $1 million and 11 at $2 million the following year.

It’s sad to see it go, but given this past year also saw the duo experiment with the idea of one-off specials like the Super Bowl event they aired, it’s hard to imagine this is going to be the last time we see the comedy team grace Comedy Central with their presence any time soon.